Trying to get to sleep was another matter. Probably due to the anticipation of tomorrow's travel, and knowing we would have to get up early, sleep evaded at least one of us. For the second night in a row too. One word of caution, watch that green tea they serve in the Tamarind. It may contain much more caffeine than you would suspect. And diet soda can also be a problem. You never consider that when ordering a Cuba Libra (rum and coke) as a before dinner drink.
And why would the people next door to us decide to put their luggage out in the hall at midnight? We suspect that someone had been ill next door, either due to a cold or sea sickness. The noise of coughing drifted through the bathroom exhaust fan, so you couldn't help but hear it during the daytime. More so at night. But last night, one of us woke up with a start when the drawers began to bang, and hangars clinked in the closets. The last that was heard was the cabin door slamming quite hard. We can only hope they were feeling better and had tied one on in one of the bars or lounges. Other than that, we see no excuse for being inconsiderate of the neighbors. Doesn't take much to keep those cabin or veranda doors from slamming.
With that thought in mind, we noticed this morning at breakfast, that some folks were pretty crabby. This is something that always happens at the end of a trip. A sort of depression takes over, realizing that the pampering will soon end, and reality sets in. Best to ignore it, and enjoy our final breakfast onboard. We were at the door of the dining room by 6am, first in line. Expecting a much longer line, we were surprised that there were only 10 of us. What service we had. Every waiter on our way to the back window tables said good morning. They seemed happy, since most all of the 2000 plus guests will be going home today. We found out that a total of 17 passengers will remain onboard for the next segment to San Diego or even Ft. Lauderdale. Today, 600 guests will join the ship for four days to San Francisco. Now why couldn't we have stayed onboard until SF? Especially when they are selling that 4 day cruise? Bottom line, they blame the Jones Act.
After breakfast, we went down to deck one and sat in our usual spots at the little bar near the front desk to do the last of our emails. While we were there, Jorn, the Food and Beverage Manager, stopped by to say goodbye. He added more info about the rules of the Jones Act, and said that the foreign crew members that were going home either today or in SF, had to have a direct flight out of the USA to a foreign city. Go figure……
The time for us to leave the ship was 8am. Even though we had a colored ticket, we are allowed off at any time we wish. It is a perk of being in the President's Club. Now this is when you see how crabby some folks can be. Most all, if not all of the expedited guests had left ship, so we ended up in the line behind them. Another man yelled at us that no colored tags had been announced, and we could not be allowed to get off. Not saying a word to him, we showed our cards, and the head of security gave the go-ahead to the "guard" at the kiosk. Saying it was OK, he informed him that we were special, and yes, we did have priority. Would have loved to see the man who announced loudly to all around him that we would not be allowed off. And within a few minutes, our color yellow one was summoned to debark. Big deal.
Directions were given along the way by many HAL reps. That was most helpful. The first stop was in the luggage pick-up area, where we found that our luggage had not arrived yet. Most of the colors were there, but not all of them. The one nice thing is that luggage carts were available to take your stuff to the waiting buses. And they were free.
Once loaded up, we headed for the bus, but not before passing off the Canadian customs form to the agent. They barely even looked at the form. We joined a waiting bus that already was about full for the ride to the airport. It was raining hard all the way to the airport, but we could see just about every coffee shop that was opened were full of customers. It was a real treat to see the trees in full fall color, especially the maples….outstanding.
By the time we arrived at the airport, the clouds broke up, and the rain stopped. We could already see blue skies, and the rest of the day looked promising. Turned out we were in for more surprises.
It has been several years since we flew in or out of Vancouver, so it was pleasant to see the new improvements at the International Terminal. One of the best things they have here are free luggage trolleys, right there where the bus dropped us off. Loaded up, we went to United's check-in kiosks, and confirmed the flight to SF, printed the luggage tags and boarding passes. This time we did not get the TSA approved security check. But then, this was international, and we did not even see a separate line for any speedy security check. So it was shoes and jackets off, and the normal computers out, and pockets empty. We passed.
Then we had to go to more kiosks where we filled out our US Customs and Immigrations info. No paper forms to fill out, this type of checkpoint was totally by computer. It scanned our passports, asked the usual questions, and even took our photos. Once done, we proceeded to see an agent, who asked why we pushed the button to declare what we had purchased out of the country. Not exceeding the limit of $800 each, we did not need to declare anything. The way it was presented confused us, and the agent laughed and said have a nice day……passed.
We should have had a two hour wait for the flight, but it turned out most all flights to SFO had been delayed. Assuming it was from the smoke from the horrible fires in Northern California, it was uncertain when or if we would be able to get home. Since we had complimentary wi-fi, it was easy to go to the website and research it ourselves. The connection was off and on, but stayed on long enough to find out that construction on some runways in SFO was the actual culprit. As we watched the time advancing on the screen for our flight, many folks were panicking. Lots of them had connecting flights to elsewhere in the US, and would for sure miss their connections. A long line formed at the desk, as people demanded to be re-routed a different way. One couple from Boston was visibly upset, but the agents did find them an alternate route. Good to see something happening to cool them down, as everyone was uncomfortable with the situation. We had no connecting flight, so if we got back later than expected, it was not the end of the world.
Then when we had decided to chill out and relax, they were up and running again, and said there was a window for some flights to take off, and we would begin seating shortly. So as it turned out, we were delayed only an hour or more. Not as bad as everyone thought, although some folks were cutting it close to missing other connecting flights.
It was an uneventful flight with one serving of Bits and Bites Meli Melo snacks with our choice of water, juice, or sodas. The fancy name was really Chex mix with a French-Canadian name. The flight was under 2 hours, and we were landing by 4pm. We could spot the smoke from miles away, and were told that it had been much worse. We cannot begin to imagine the severity of so many people losing their homes and their lives. And from the reports we were getting, the fires were far from being put out. So sad.
All four pieces of luggage came down the carousel, and we made our call via the courtesy phones for our driver to pick us up. We followed the doggie prints that brought us to the #4 relief stop for dogs. It doubles as a pick-up for shuttles as well. By then it was nearing 5pm, and the worst time for commuting anywhere in the Bay Area. We knew we were in for at least three hours of traffic.
It was dark by the time we pulled in the driveway at 7:30pm. The road detour was still operating, as we expected, but it was sure good to be home, as it always is. Not so much work to do this time, because we were only gone a little over 3 weeks. We were simply grateful to have a intact home to go to.
We will follow up with some more comments on the differences with the two ships as we see it. But that may be in a few days.
Thanks for tagging along…..
Bill & Mary Ann
Sunrise in Vancouver
Docked at the port in Vancouver
A rainy, dark morning
A praying mantis at our house
A large critter
